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First Meetings

In the Enderverse

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First Meetings

By: Orson Scott Card
Narrated by: Gabrielle De Cuir, Amanda Karr, Stefan Rudnicki
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About this listen

 First Meetings is a collection of three novellas (plus the original "Ender's Game") that journey into the origins and the destiny of one Ender Wiggin.

"The Polish Boy", a novella written especially for this collection, begins in the years between the first two Bugger Wars when the Hegemony is desperate to recruit brilliant military commanders to repel the alien invasion. In John Paul Wiggin, the future father of Ender, they believe they may have found their man. Or boy.

In "Teacher's Pest", also written especially for this collection, a brilliant but insufferably arrogant John Paul Wiggin, now an American university student, matches wits with an equally brilliant graduate student named Theresa Brown.

It is many years since the end of the Bugger Wars in "The Investment Counselor". Ender's reputation as a hero and savior has suffered a horrible reversal. Banished from Earth and slandered as a mass murderer, 20-year-old Ender Wiggin wanders incognito form planet to planet as a fugitive, until a blackmailing tax inspector compromises his identity and threatens to expose Ender the Xenocide.

Also here is the original landmark "Ender's Game", which first appeared in 1977.

First Meetings is Orson Scott Card at the height of his considerable powers, featuring his most compelling character.

©2003 Orson Scott Card (P)2003, 2004 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC Anthologies & Short Stories Literature & Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Student War Solar System

Critic reviews

"Character, setting, plot: Card does them all right, and makes it look effortless....For newcomers to Ender's universe and long-time fans, this book will hit the spot and whet the appetite for more." ( School Library Journal)
"Even those who are intimately familiar with the concepts of the Game from later Ender books will be struck anew by Card's virtuosity. His powerful voice and startlingly clear vision will draw many new readers into a lifelong love of science fiction. This accessible collection will impress even non-sci-fi buffs, besides being a must-have for Ender saga devotees." ( Publishers Weekly)"These stories demonstrate the assured scene setting, apparently effortlessly sustained suspense, and moral preoccupation with the responsibilities of kinship and friendship that distinguishes Ender's entire saga." ( Booklist)
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I wasn't going to bothered initially, OSC'S work in the enderverse has been in steady decline with each novel being slightly worse than its predecessor.
The three short stories and the original Ender short story are a return to form and we're very enjoyable

A nice addition the enderverse

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This is Scott Card?s short story telling at its best, typical Scott Card, which is good news for his fans. You are treated to a Scott Card dissertation, on sociology, which he draws to a questionable conclusion but it gets you thinking. A good listen but if you have never encountered Ender before it is, perhaps, not the best place to start.
The three new stories are evocative and entertaining. They took me back to my first encounter with Scott Card in ?Maps in a Mirror? and reminded me why I have avidly read everything he has written since. It is masterly stuff, great science-fiction, and does so leave you wanting more.
Scott Card seems to translate well to spoken word. Please sir, I want more!

A Treat For Fans Of The Enderverse

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So all in all I feel a cheated. I wasted a credit on this because it's just 3 chapters, roughly 3 hours long. I feel like I'm owed a book seeing as I've already bought Enders game.

Also, for the love of God, why Is there out of place, poorly edited music?! Audio renaissance. You suck

Not worth the buy. pirate it. listen to a bootleg YouTube version. even get the pdf online. just don't buy this audiobook. it will disappointed you.

it's actually 3 hours long

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I have already heard or read Ender's Game and Speaker for the dead, so this is an abridged version plus a prequel as to how Ender's parents met and where his father came from.

The whole presentation is BADLY let down with music at the start and end of the stories or chapters. Why in whoever's name is that music louder than the speech??? It should be in the back ground. hence the three stars.

Pre-, during and post Ender's Game stories. So-so.

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The performances of the voice artists are as good as ever, but they are drowned out by terrible music which in places is louder than the voices! It’s an incredibly jarring and unpleasant sound. Sadly, you’re better off reading this yourself. Please, whoever mastered this audio- revisit and remove the music!

Dreadful overpowering music!

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I really enjoyed this audiobook - in context of the whole series within the Enderverse.
...But the Music nearly drove me insane (played in-between, and over lapping the end and beginning of each story). It was so loud, that it was a struggle to hear the actual actors. Please please please do away with the music! Its not needed!

Good Stories, but awful Music!

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